( excuse you he is an extremely rational person who always reacts proportionately to everything!!! )
Yeah, I'm having a drink with one right now, ( damon responds smoothly, smiling around the rim of the bottle. sam's surprise at katherine's face is... honestly, damon kind of forgot it was weird that she and elena share a face. it's such a fact of life, as far as he's concerned, that if he's not actively considering doppelganger shenanigans, he doesn't really notice it. they're so different in all other ways, it's kind of easy to forget that technically, they share a face. )
Elena's doppelganger. Technically I guess Elena is her doppelganger, but Elena's the superior version, so.
[ Sam laughs, warm and low as a burst of startled amusement flares out. He lifts his glass in toast to that, and his smile doesn't fade even when that explanation is definitely not what he was expecting. ]
All right, I was thinking Elena's bitchy twin sister, but okay, doppelganger makes just as much sense. So that's like a legit thing where you're from?
( #nowkiss tbh, these two just need to date already )
Yeah. It's a whole thing with magic curses and shit I don't really understand, but abridged version is: witch put a curse on a guy a thousand years ago, doppelgangers bind the curse. Katherine got out of being used as a human sacrifice by turning into a vampire.
( the amusement drains out of damon slowly, and his voice loses all sense of mirth when he speaks again. )
Right, makes total sense. And honestly Sam isn't even thinking that sarcastically - if a super genius and a Norse god can make an AI, why not witches putting curses on people using doppelganger?
But then his amusement fades, too, a chill rising up his spine. He knows Damon's from ahead of her - knows that Damon's used present tense even when talking about back home, knows she's gotta be okay somehow, but still, he's gotta ask. ]
( it's hard to feel any kind of amusement when thinking about this. that he leeched the joy out of sam is something damon regrets, but not enough to try to pretend any of this is okay. )
Klaus. Wanted to be a hybrid vampire-werewolf, and to do it he had to complete a whole ritual. Killed a werewolf, turned Elena's mom into a vampire and killed her... then killed Elena. Her best friend did a spell so that her uncle ( this word the link tinges as complicated, giving the sensation of father and uncle simultaneously ) would die and she would live.
( said like that it all sounds so... ridiculous. it had been terrifyingat the time, and still is, really, but... an outsider couldn't know the way his stomach had bottomed out as he saw elena on the ground, the grief they all felt for jenna. it just sounds like something out of a bad fantasy novel. )
( he shrugs sort of helplessly — what else can he do? )
My brother's missing, when I'm from. I know he ends up safe, because he's here, but he can't if I don't go back to find him.
( damon's relationship with stefan is complicated, and now, with elena without so many of her memories, it's possible sam's the one who knows that better than anyone else. but it's his fault that stefan gave himself over to klaus, and no matter what, damon has to pay himback for that. )
[ Not go back, really, that's what he could do - but Damon's a good guy.
Or - someone who won't let something like that go unfinished, because Sam knows that the term good guy makes Damon uneasy. Whatever you wanna call it, Sam understands. Complicated or not, Damon can't just leave him out there if he's got an option.
He takes another drink, looking into his glass consideringly for a moment before he looks back up. ]
I'll help. Assuming we find a way back and I can actually come with, anyway.
( that's... an offer damon doesn't really know what to do with. he draws back from sam mentally, closing off his thoughts just a tiny bit — they share most things but he doesn't know how to share this, this obligation and this hatred and this love he has for stefan. it's his, his and stefan's, and no matter how close he is to sam, it's not for outsiders.
but he knows what sam thinks of stefan, how his own words have twisted his friend against him before they've even properly gotten to know each other, and yet... sam still wants to help. he'd still leave his own home behind and come to mystic falls, because... why? damon's certainly not worth enduring everything he just described.
except apparently, to sam... he is. )
Thank you. ( it's not often that he says that — sam knows, sam's been inside his head when he was trying to wrestle with his own gratitude — but when it's important, when he means it... yeah. )
[ Sam doesn't pursue him when he closes off. It's between Damon and Stefan, and Sam's not looking to interfere with that.
He's trying to remain neutral on Stefan, really. He knows Damon loves him, complicated relationship aside, and he knows that anything he gets from Damon is likely to be a little skewed - but hell, Sam's human. He's gonna have a bias sometimes.
So no, it's not for Stefan, not in any more of a way than Sam would generally help someone in a shitty situation if he could. Just like packing up his life to help Steve search for Bucky hadn't necessarily been about Bucky.
Damon's worth it. And, selfishly, the few people that Sam has to say goodbye to when they figure a way out, the better. Home's never been a place for him, it's always been the people. ]
You're welcome. [ He knows exactly what it means that Damon's saying that, and his own words are soft. Genuine. The moment sits, just for a bit, then Sam smirks. Before it can get to be too much. ] You think you and your drinking buddy'll have room for one or two more?
(damon's worth it. not a sentiment he's used to hearing, or wven hivemind feeling. more than ever, damon's sure he doesn't deserve sam's friendship, but he's equally sure he will never give it up. sam is his, now, the same way elena and stefan and ric are, and he'd let any of them go if they wanted to leave, but no one will take them from him. he won't give up on them. not ever.
there's no way to say that or even mentally convey it in a chill, laidback way, so damon doesn't, instead going back to staring at the bottle in his hands. sam's next comment catches him a little off guard, and it makes him chuckle, nodding. )
Ric would probably love more drinking buddies, yeah. Especially ones he can poke fun at me with.
( a look of mock dawning horror passes over damon's face, and he shakes his head. )
Nope, nevermind, I rescind the invitation. My ego would never survive you and Ric in the same room.
[ If Sam has his way, it's one he'll get used to hearing. Or feeling. That last part is something they've got in common - Sam doesn't give up on his friends, either. His loyalty's gotten him into trouble, sure, but it's always been worth it. That's not gonna change now.
There's pretty much no way to convey this thing between them in a way that doesn't involve getting a little too emotional, though, so when Sam catches Damon staring at his bottle - saying something to lighten things up a little seems like a decent idea. It makes Damon chuckle, anyway, and Sam grins at that look of horror. ]
You sure? I'm pretty sure it can take a few heavy punches and come rearing back up, your ego's almost as strong as mine.
( damon can make a million jokes about sam's boytoys, but really, he knows he's probably one of them, now. it's hard not to love sam, for all the same reasons it was hard not to love elena, and that part of damon's heart is irrevocably spoken for, but there's a growing part that's just for sam, too. he's what elena could be, if she grew up and shed all the things that make her afraid to be herself, and maybe it's unfair for damon to latch onto sam for that reason, but... well, it is what it is. sam is his own person, and damon likes him for him just as much. )
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Yeah, I'm having a drink with one right now, ( damon responds smoothly, smiling around the rim of the bottle. sam's surprise at katherine's face is... honestly, damon kind of forgot it was weird that she and elena share a face. it's such a fact of life, as far as he's concerned, that if he's not actively considering doppelganger shenanigans, he doesn't really notice it. they're so different in all other ways, it's kind of easy to forget that technically, they share a face. )
Elena's doppelganger. Technically I guess Elena is her doppelganger, but Elena's the superior version, so.
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All right, I was thinking Elena's bitchy twin sister, but okay, doppelganger makes just as much sense. So that's like a legit thing where you're from?
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Yeah. It's a whole thing with magic curses and shit I don't really understand, but abridged version is: witch put a curse on a guy a thousand years ago, doppelgangers bind the curse. Katherine got out of being used as a human sacrifice by turning into a vampire.
( the amusement drains out of damon slowly, and his voice loses all sense of mirth when he speaks again. )
Elena wasn't so lucky.
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Right, makes total sense. And honestly Sam isn't even thinking that sarcastically - if a super genius and a Norse god can make an AI, why not witches putting curses on people using doppelganger?
But then his amusement fades, too, a chill rising up his spine. He knows Damon's from ahead of her - knows that Damon's used present tense even when talking about back home, knows she's gotta be okay somehow, but still, he's gotta ask. ]
Wasn't?
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Klaus. Wanted to be a hybrid vampire-werewolf, and to do it he had to complete a whole ritual. Killed a werewolf, turned Elena's mom into a vampire and killed her... then killed Elena. Her best friend did a spell so that her uncle ( this word the link tinges as complicated, giving the sensation of father and uncle simultaneously ) would die and she would live.
( said like that it all sounds so... ridiculous. it had been terrifyingat the time, and still is, really, but... an outsider couldn't know the way his stomach had bottomed out as he saw elena on the ground, the grief they all felt for jenna. it just sounds like something out of a bad fantasy novel. )
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He'd get that even without a mindlink. ]
Shit, man, you sure you wanna go back to your world and dealing with all that?
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My brother's missing, when I'm from. I know he ends up safe, because he's here, but he can't if I don't go back to find him.
( damon's relationship with stefan is complicated, and now, with elena without so many of her memories, it's possible sam's the one who knows that better than anyone else. but it's his fault that stefan gave himself over to klaus, and no matter what, damon has to pay himback for that. )
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Or - someone who won't let something like that go unfinished, because Sam knows that the term good guy makes Damon uneasy. Whatever you wanna call it, Sam understands. Complicated or not, Damon can't just leave him out there if he's got an option.
He takes another drink, looking into his glass consideringly for a moment before he looks back up. ]
I'll help. Assuming we find a way back and I can actually come with, anyway.
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but he knows what sam thinks of stefan, how his own words have twisted his friend against him before they've even properly gotten to know each other, and yet... sam still wants to help. he'd still leave his own home behind and come to mystic falls, because... why? damon's certainly not worth enduring everything he just described.
except apparently, to sam... he is. )
Thank you. ( it's not often that he says that — sam knows, sam's been inside his head when he was trying to wrestle with his own gratitude — but when it's important, when he means it... yeah. )
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He's trying to remain neutral on Stefan, really. He knows Damon loves him, complicated relationship aside, and he knows that anything he gets from Damon is likely to be a little skewed - but hell, Sam's human. He's gonna have a bias sometimes.
So no, it's not for Stefan, not in any more of a way than Sam would generally help someone in a shitty situation if he could. Just like packing up his life to help Steve search for Bucky hadn't necessarily been about Bucky.
Damon's worth it. And, selfishly, the few people that Sam has to say goodbye to when they figure a way out, the better. Home's never been a place for him, it's always been the people. ]
You're welcome. [ He knows exactly what it means that Damon's saying that, and his own words are soft. Genuine. The moment sits, just for a bit, then Sam smirks. Before it can get to be too much. ] You think you and your drinking buddy'll have room for one or two more?
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there's no way to say that or even mentally convey it in a chill, laidback way, so damon doesn't, instead going back to staring at the bottle in his hands. sam's next comment catches him a little off guard, and it makes him chuckle, nodding. )
Ric would probably love more drinking buddies, yeah. Especially ones he can poke fun at me with.
( a look of mock dawning horror passes over damon's face, and he shakes his head. )
Nope, nevermind, I rescind the invitation. My ego would never survive you and Ric in the same room.
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There's pretty much no way to convey this thing between them in a way that doesn't involve getting a little too emotional, though, so when Sam catches Damon staring at his bottle - saying something to lighten things up a little seems like a decent idea. It makes Damon chuckle, anyway, and Sam grins at that look of horror. ]
You sure? I'm pretty sure it can take a few heavy punches and come rearing back up, your ego's almost as strong as mine.
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Your ego? You sure you even have one, brother?